


New Life, New Home

by dwarvenmess (AmberLynn2424)



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Adopted Dwarf, Dwarf But Not A Dwarf, Dwarf Culture & Customs, Dwarven Traditions, Dwarven customs, F/M, Help me with tags!, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-14
Updated: 2015-04-22
Packaged: 2018-03-22 23:04:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3746890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmberLynn2424/pseuds/dwarvenmess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Odette and her friends have ran away from Alagath, their home, and have been separated. Gottra has watched her child and home burn to the ground in Erebor and has been separated from her family. Believing them dead, she lived in bitterness until she came across Odette.</p>
<p>After Gottra passes, Odette goes on a journey to find Gottra's husband and tell him what had become of his wife. She never expected to have to chase him on his own journey or join another journey to reclaim Erebor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beginning

The rain made her mood miserable. Odette use to like the rain but it only made her scar burn and her cough worse. She rubbed the fresh scar softly while watching the rainfall. She was waiting outside, under part of a building. She wasn’t sure who or what she was waiting for; perhaps for Silk and Kenny to appear again. 

They had lived in a village was nice enough. She hadn’t been born there but considering her odd circumstances, the people had been very generous in giving her and her abandoned friends an old shack to live in. Even more generous considering Odette had only been eighteen at the time while her friends, Silk and Kenny had been only twenty. They were adults, and yet children still in their ways. It had been a small but sweet village. A rare one in which the race of Men in it lived peacefully and fairly with the forest. One early morning, orcs attacked. After the first scream rang out, many followed. While running away, Odette had gotten in a fight with a great orc. She had found a sword on a dead man and had no skill with it. Even so, she managed to block and defend her friends and herself. That was until the orc broke through the sword and sliced her from hip to shoulder. She fell back on Silk and Kenny, covering them with blood. She had been in such a shock; she hadn’t known what to do. The orc, filled with adrenaline from battle, believed he struck down all three of the humans with one swipe of his blade and left them. Covered in her blood, Kenny and Silk managed to get away, believing Odette was dead.

After they left, mere hours later after the orcs left, she had been found by some merchants that had come to trade with the village. They only discovered fire, blood, and the only survivor that was nearly dead. Odette had been lucky that an elven healer with them. If they hadn’t, she would have been dead for certain. She nearly was when they found her. She had lost so much blood that she nearly… That had been six months ago. She already had her scar healed thanks to the elven healer.  
She had her old cloak pulled over her head but it didn't seem to help. There were holes in the cloak that, when the wind blew, rain still seeped in. She covered her mouth as she was wracked with another coughing fit. She remembered sitting in her parent's house, watching the fire roar at her feet while her sister read a story to her. She remembered being warm and the rain were nothing more than a noise outside the window.

Odette felt so different from those days. She felt as if she ever got there again, her sister wouldn't be able to recognize her. She felt like she had changed so much that her body had physically morphed with her. This wasn’t far off from the truth. She had never been so skinny in her life. She quickly figured out that beauty wasn't in a person's weight and she damned the society she came from for caring so much about it. They never saw how lucky they were to have more than even food on the table and in their gluttonous bellies. She used to be one of them in the city of Alagath. Alagath had been a rich human city, one of the few. It had corruption and famine but Odette had been lucky to been born to a mother and father that had more money than they knew what to do with.

She stared into a nearby puddle for a long time as her coughing eased away for now. It was clouded with dirt, mud, and probably horse dung given its position on the road. People were walking by her; the street crowded despite the weather. She was use to the sound of footsteps but she heard some that sounded different. Someone walked with a purpose. The sound stopped in-front of her and boots entered her vision. 

Looking up at the person, she discovered an old dwarven woman. Odette blinked at her quietly, not saying a word as she stared into blue eyes. The dwarven woman's eyes were that of a warm, calming blue but there was a sense of deep regret in them.

“Are you looking for warmth dear?”

"Aye..." She answered softly, pushing back another cough. “I…could work. I have nowhere else to go for work." Odette didn't see any reason to not tell the woman. What was the worst that could be done with such meaningless information? (Realizing this later, Odette realized this was not the best thing to tell a stranger. After all, if she had no where to go to, she had no one to miss her should she go missing or dead. She was delirious from sickness though.)

"I could use a worker." The woman claimed suddenly and mysteriously. The old dwarf gave a calm smile to the little blonde. “I can give room and a few hot meals for one.”

"Why would you do that?" Odette asked softer. She stared in the dwarf eyes, looking for any ill intent but finding none.

"Because I have a house with no home."

-

They had been walking for half an hour. They had walked out of town, following the old dwarven woman, Gottra. Odette stared at her back, counting how many braids she had. She counted at least twenty small braids that sat on-top of her hair before she slipped to her knees suddenly. 

Gottra turned to look at her but made no move to help her.

Odette wasn't sure what it was that snapped in her. Whatever it was, she knew that it was Gottra's kind but stern look that said simply 'you do not need help, stand on your own' that made her push herself up and nod to Gottra, signaling that she could continue to follow.

This simple action, standing and then continuing to follow Gottra on her own while sick, made her feel infinitely stronger. Gottra got this mysterious smile and a far off look in those regretful eyes of hers. She looked over the young girl, shaking as she stood but with a look so determined, it reminded her of a specific dwarven child. 

They continued walking until they came upon a small two room shack. The ground was muddy. A garden was full of more weeds than vegetables on the west side. The east side had a water pump close by and a small window. The wood was strong but appeared almost rotted. Gottra didn’t mind since it warned off passersby looking for housing. She never liked humans; not until she saw this little one. But when she saw this little one, she did not see a human.

-

While Gottra enjoyed seeing Odette so determined earlier, she was happy she was able to ease the girl in her bed without as much fuss as she would get from a normal dwarven child. While Odette claimed she should start her work, Gottra simply said there would be time for that later. 

The girl was sick of course and needed bedrest and a few cups of herbal tea, but Gottra in no way pity this child. She felt that the lone child and she were very similar; lost without homes and no family left.

-

The girl, Odette, remained in her delirious state for nearly a month. Without expensive medicines or an elven healer, it was expected. When she finally came to her senses, she was surprised to find that snow was falling to the ground.  
She stared out the window for a few minutes, wondering how she got into a warm bed and care. She knew she had been cared for since there was no starving ache, something she had come to know very well, left in her belly. Her clothes had been changed. She wasn’t in her torn brown tunic and worn tan shorts that had been falling off her hips. She was in a sky blue tunic, it looked new from a second-hand store, and warm brown leggings. She saw a winter coat, lined with a gray fur, waiting on a chair. A dark cloak lay across the seat. 

Odette remembered the dwarven woman and walking with her. She couldn’t remember much after she slipped in the mud though. She was unsure whether she walked here or if she had to be carried. Either way, she felt grateful. 

She saw the dwarven woman walking about outside, preparing to gather firewood. 

Odette stood and picked up the coat and realized, the coat was too small for the dwarven woman. She felt confusion as she put on the coat. Why would a stranger buy or barter to get her a new coat? The coat was an ill fit, but it kept her warm.

She shoved on her old boots and found the heel had even been mended with strong leather so the hole was gone. Feeling the weight of her debt on her, she walked outside the room and discovered the small shack. She had been in the only other room. It was small and lacked anything that made it personal. It looked clean but abandoned. There were no family pictures, nor any drawings from children, nor family trinkets. It seemed empty and lonely. The empty room was almost screaming at her to leave.  
The cold was still somewhat of a shock as she walked outside. The jacket kept her warm, yes, but the snow and cold wind hitting her face still made her gasp. The snow was just now sticking to the ground. A small wind blew and carried her blonde locks against the door while she closed it.

She moved and went around to where she saw Gottra before. 

“Hello?” She called. She heard thud every few seconds.

“It’s nice to see my worker up! Only been a month since you lay down.” Gottra shouted, moving some cut firewood to the side.

Odette remained silent for a moment before picking up the axe. Gottra said nothing as she put another short log on the stump.  
It wasn’t until Odette held the axe overhead that she said, “Have you ever chopped firewood before lass?”

“No. I use to have a friend that did it when we lived together.” She admitted quietly, lowering the axe. She remembered Kenny messing up a lot at first. He had to ask a neighbor how to properly cut the wood. He must have told Odette how to properly cut the wood at some point but she never paid much attention to it. She hadn’t thought she would ever need such information. She never thought she’d be separated from her friends.

Gottra stared at Odette with a smile as the girl got lost in her memories. She moved and helped the girl, pulling the axe to her shoulder. 

“You aren’t much taller than me lass. Set the axe to your shoulder then swing down with all your might.” Gottra instructed as if Odette was nothing more than a child.  
To Gottra, the human supposed she really was nothing more than a child. She was barely eighteen while Gottra had to be over 200 years old; according to the little knowledge she had from little rumors she heard about dwarven women. Not much was known about dwarven women since there simply wasn’t as many women as there were men in that race. It was evidently to a great war many centuries ago that Odette knew even smaller about. 

-

It took her two hours, but Odette believed she had perfected her chopping abilities. When she began, she couldn’t slice through the wood all the way on the first chop. When she finally managed to chop it all the way down, she sliced in strangely diagonally which wouldn’t sit properly on the fire.

As Odette swung and swung, Gottra couldn’t help but to chuckle. It was amusing to see a human girl have such determination to chop some wood. It reminded her of a dwarf. They had enough firewood about an hour ago, but this was a rare treat for the old dwarven woman: entertainment.

Finally, as Odette huffed and panted, she touched the girl’s shoulder.

“That’s more than enough. We have to bring it to the side of the house and stack it right so it stays dry.” Gottra said sternly. The girl nodded and got to work. Gottra wondered if the girl didn’t have some dwarf blood running through her veins. She lugged as much wood as a dwarf of her human age could, though she was lucky enough to have more patience it seemed. She took the time to properly stack the wood as Gottra showed her.

 

The girl amazed Gottra immensely, but pleased her just as much.


	2. An End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life with Gottra and the end of life with Gottra

The next few years were hard on the dwarf and human. They had gone through harsh winters and harder summers together. There had hardly been enough food between them, especially when Gottra fell ill suddenly last winter and Odette had been left to work as hard as she could, scavenging and (much to Gottra’s displeasure) working in the nearby human village, for their few crumbs.

Every year, in the fall and spring, when there wasn’t a killing heat or destructive cold, Gottra took it upon herself to teach Odette all she knew. Gottra had been named Gottra Hammerhead for when she was in battles; she preferred close combat and quite literally, fighting with her head. She suffered from great headaches now but it had been worth it to see every enemy shocked when her rock hard skull cracked theirs. 

She tried to teach Odette how to fight with her head but discovered quickly the girl only could while wearing a helmet. She should have expected this of course, despite being so dwarfish like, she was a human after all. But, Gottra forgot often now that Odette was in fact human. Odette was as small as a dwarf and, while not as big as a woman dwarf was, she was near as strong as one and had near the same stubbornness in her. Gottra didn’t doubt for a minute that Odette was half dwarf.

Gottra taught Odette how to use a sword and the girl picked up a bow and arrow on her own. Gottra had told her a bow was useless to a close combat fighter like herself but took her words back in the recent years when, during the raging heat of summer, Odette came back with a deer for them with three arrows protruding out of its body.

She also taught Odette what herbs and mushrooms were good in the forest. They lived almost entirely off the forest after Odette learned. It made Gottra happy they were so independent from the humans that lived close by. She couldn’t stand the very sight of humans these days. She was bitter in her old age and didn’t mind showing so to anyone she could.

-

Their shack was more like a home now to Odette. It didn’t seem so lonely to be there anymore with the fond memories of sitting in front of the fire, listening to Gottra’s tales or sipping on an herbal tea they created together after an afternoon of practicing sword-fighting, filling the room. 

Odette felt stronger. She had more muscle from the hard labor of surviving in the forest with Gottra and fighting. She had never felt this good in her entire life, nor as happy as she was here.  
Alagath had been a beautiful city. It had nearly been as beautiful as how Gottra described Dale. Last time Odette had seen it anyways.

At times, she missed her friends and family. Other times, she was happier to have left them behind to be with her new family: Gottra. The old dwarven woman was all she needed to be happy at this point of her life. She hadn’t even been this close to her mother before.

 

-

“I want to do something special.” Gottra said. Her voice had gotten more gravelly lately.  
It was a bright afternoon. The kind where the wind blew through the trees of the forests and the animals poked their heads out of their hiding places to enjoy the sun. It was a day that Odette typically left in the morning to gather herbs and hunt in the deep forest.

She had gotten lucky and scored a three rabbits and a small boar for them however this morning. Gottra was almost done gutting the boar when she spoke.

“What would you want to do?” Odette looked at the old dwarf curiously. “Do you want to learn how to shoot a bow and arrow?” She couldn’t help but to tease as she washed the tips of her arrows with an old rag that at one point, had been a shirt of Odette’s that had been ripped to shreds but a wolf.

Gottra laughed and shook her head. “I want to tattoo you.” She said suddenly. “I want to give you the mark of a dwarf.”  
Odette looked confused for a moment. Out of all of the stories Gottra had told her before, she never mentioned this. It sounded important and something worth mentioning.

“The mark of a dwarf?” Odette asked.

With a hearty laugh, Gottra shook her head. 

“I just want to tattoo you.” She smiled at Odette. “Come now. Let an old dwarf have her fun aye?”  
Odette never thought much of tattoos. They were for men typically, she thought anyways. She never thought of getting one, but, one look of Gottra’s bright smile and she nodded with her own smile. 

-

The process took most of the day and half the night. It had been painful since she got the tattoo on her neck. She never thought it would be so large either. She lie back though and let Gottra do as she pleased, trusting her that much.  
When Gottra was done, there was a delicate work of runes of Khuzdul and thick black lines crawling up the sides of her neck. Four runes on each side of her neck, and the lines twisted at the top to make something that looked very similar to Gottra’s old home, the Lonely Mountain. 

When Odette looked at the tattoo in their small and cracked mirror, she smiled brightly.

“That’s Erebor isn’t it?” She asked softly. “Can you tell me the story about the young prince again?”  
Gottra chuckled. When she was younger, she had helped care for the younger prince, Thorin, and his siblings. She thought them dead but enjoyed reliving their lives through the stories she told Odette.  
She enjoyed telling a particular one of Thorin’s younger sister, Dis, lifting Thorin’s sword and swinging it so hard it got stuck in the wall. Gottra had to pull it out for the young dwarves before they got in trouble by their grandfather. Gottra had been a young dwarf at the time, a simple maid of the Durin family. She had met her husband that day.

Her eyes grew sad thinking of it.

-

Ever since Odette got her tattoos two summers ago, she had felt strange. Before, when dwarves passed through their forest or saw her very rarely in town they would simply ignore her. Now, they would speak with her and share tales with her. She remembered this one dwarf, a very sneaky dwarf named Nori who had passed through the deep woods. He was sneaking away from a human village. He had gotten himself in some trouble, Odette learned from Gottra to not ask of such things (as in ‘how’) before so she kept her questions to herself. She guided him through the forest, all the while laughing and eating a few berries they picked.

He had been a fun dwarf. He told her of his younger brother Ori who was learning to write Khuzdul. He was well on his way to being a scribe or scholar. His older brother, Dori, was probably worrying over him being gone so long. He laughed just thinking of it and his laughter was quite contagious. 

Odette enjoyed that afternoon, and every afternoon when dwarves passed through. It was nice talking with them and always learning from them. Dori passed through and he taught her how to whittle and gave her a small knife just for whittling. They spent an afternoon whittling. Even after Dori left, Odette would whittle when she had free time had became quite good at it. The cabin soon had little decorations on shelves and such. Gottra kept a specific whittled figure with her, one of a small hammer that reminded her much of her old war hammer.

-

All too soon, Gottra was passing. It happened suddenly. One morning she couldn’t find the strength to get up. 

Odette could tell the old dwarf was actually happy about this and smiling all the while.

“It’s a good thing.” Gottra said. “I can finally be with my little boy and my Balin again.” She shut her old eyes and sighed happily. “I told you of them, didn’t I?”

“Yes, of course you did.” Odette held Gottra’s calloused hand softly. The heat was blistering in the cabin and they were both sweating and slick. 

“I told you lots of things. I didn’t tell you about what I did though; the most important thing.” Gottra laughed to herself softly, as if she had heard a joke that only she knew the answer to.

“What didn’t you tell me? Come on now, you can’t pass on without telling me.” Odette tried to keep her tone light. It was difficult, even for her. She had lost her innocence, her home, and her friends. Now someone she looked to as a mother.

Gottra chuckled again and said softer, “Your tattoo isn’t simply a tattoo. It’s a mark saying I adopted you.” She smiled again. 

“You’re my daughter, as I am your mother. Even when I am gone, I’ll be your mother. I expect you to not blunt the knives, nor bend the forks!” She ended in a laugh that quieted into a cough.

She mentioned a song she taught Odette long ago: ‘That’s What Our Mother Hates’. It used to be sung by young dwarves to annoy their mothers as they cleaned the kitchen. Gottra sang it to Odette when she told her of the royal children singing it one day when they were punished to clean the kitchen. They had, and don’t ask how, but lost a pet rabbit in the gold room. They hadn’t found it until a year later; younger more rabbits were running wild around the fields of gold.

“You will be remarked to and respected as a dwarf.” Gottra smiled, hearing the silence from Odette. “I probably should have asked you, but I didn’t think it necessary.” She coughed again. “I can go easy. I’ll wait for you with your brother and father. Don’t come too quickly, or I’ll smack you.” The old dwarven woman smiled and chuckled for the last time.


	3. Reunited on the First Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Odette deals with the death of Gottra and races to find her husband to deliver the news.

Odette had made sure Gottra was taken care of properly in her afterlife. Gottra had been buried in the side of a small nearby mountain. Gottra deserved to be in Erebor where her family lay, but there wasn’t much Odette could do about that.

The shack was unbearably empty and lonely after that. Unable to take the loneliness, she started to work in the human village nearby. She was a simple barmaid. When dwarves passed by, they purposely spoke only Khuzdul to test her and Odette was always able to speak back with them thanks to Gottra teaching her. She got her best tips from them despite the dwarves passing through not being at their best either. They were looking out for one another as much as they could. Odette made sure the dwarves got a little extra meat with their order, and they gave her a little more copper to survive on. 

One night was like all other nights. The dwarves that passed through this time though, as she served them, were speaking of Thorin Oakenshield trying to gather dwarves to reclaim Erebor. 

“He’s alive!?” She spoke quickly. “I was told he had perished in the fires.” 

One dwarf shook his head at her. “No lass, he made it. Got Durin’s Folk settled in the Blue Mountains. He got thirteen dwarves to go with him somehow.”

Her eyes widened. “Only thirteen? Why only thirteen!”

He laughed and shook his head as if she were a child. “They’re brave but foolish. The dragon, Smaug, is still in that mountain. They’ll all roast!”

Odette frowned at his words and poured more ale for him. “I believe he could do it. Who does he have with him?”

He swallowed his ale and laughed more. “Tinkers and toy makers! He got the Ri brothers to go with him I know that much.” He snickered. “Good family but by no mean are they fighters. He got the Lin brothers too somehow, those two are warriors! Those are the more famous ones in his group I believe.”

“Lin?” She paled. “You speak of Balin and Dwalin, yes?” Odette leaned against the table.

The dwarf’s face changed seeing Odette suddenly go rigid. “Aye, I do. What does it matter to you lass?”

Odette grabbed him by his thick arm suddenly. “When did they set out?”

-

Getting the details of the quest was no easy feat. It had been secretive but luckily, a pair of dwarf brothers that hadn’t gone had been able to direct her; only upon hearing of her dire news of course. They were supposed to go to the Shire first to meet up with the rest of the company, but their mother had taken ill and they stayed close to be ready to give her rest.

The next feat was gathering all the supplies she would need that night. It had already been late and she hadn’t much gold. She had been able to afford a pony and some bare essentials. She packed some warm clothes and any supplies she thought she’d need. She packed her own remedies and the smoked meat she had saved for winter and as much bread she could make and that would keep on the journey. With a heavy heart, she put Gottra’s sword on her right hip. Her war hammer had been buried with her, but the sword would provide enough proof, along with the tattoo, that Gottra had adopted her.

Finally, as dawn started to rise, she finished sharpening her sword and made another dozen arrows. She got on the pony and set off. 

-

A few days of hard riding and not much rest left both her pony and her exhausted. Her body was sore and tired from the ride. Her poor pony needed a break badly. She slowed and let the pony take a drink. They went through a strange meadow. Rocks stood jagged and strange at odd angles. They strolled through slowly.  
Odette felt an unease settle over the pony and it crawled up the saddle and settled in her stomach. She shivered and put a hand on her sword. 

It happened suddenly. A warg jumped over a rock and barreled towards her. Odette moved quickly, ducking and letting herself fall under her pony to avoid being hit. The pony reared up, crying out in fear before running off.  
Drawing her sword, Odette stared down the creature as it stood and did the same. It was without rider so it was a scout. Gottra told her of things such as this. Odette made the first strike. The warg jumped to bite her, but she was fast and plunged the sword violently into its head. It squealed before stopping all sound.

She heard another warg, just a little further up screech and whimper, calling for help. She ran towards the noise, knowing others must be close hearing that. She’d rather not be on the battle field alone.

-

As Odette ran up, she pulled out her bow and arrow. She drew an arrow and fired when a rider came into view. It fell uselessly off the warg’s back. She kept running towards it and followed it. It hadn’t noticed its rider missing. It joined a group of orcs and wargs, surrounding a company of dwarves.

Odette climbed up a tall rock and stood upon it. She started raining down as many arrows as she could, shooting down orcs. They backed away and tried to find the source of the arrows realizing the dwarves weren’t shooting them all. The dwarves started disappearing, one by one into a hole covered by another large rock.  
Odette watched as they disappeared, until two dwarves stood out themselves. She let loose another arrow, taking down a fifth orc.

“Come on!” She heard being echoed. She looked at the dwarf standing further out from the hole. He was waving and motioning for her. She waved back and slid down the rock, pulling out her sword as she ran. A warg attacked her and she swung her blade. She ripped through its jaw and kept running.

“Go!” She called. She ran into the other dwarf, a dark haired young one without a beard, and shoved him to the hole roughly. She was shoved in herself and quickly moved out of the way as the last dwarf stumbled down. She panted from the run and energy she just exhausted.

“Who are you?” The dwarf who shoved her asked. He stood tall and had a royal presence around him; one that demanded respect. She panted hard in return and shook her head. She felt lightheaded.

Before Odette could answer, a horn was heard and they all fell silent. An orc fell down the hole and landed in-front of them. The royal dwarf leaned and took out the arrow that killed the orc. 

“Elves.” He hissed.

“I found a path should we follow it?”

“Follow it of course!” 

-

They went down the path quickly. Odette was taking up the rear. She was still on guard, looking behind her as they walked when her arm was grabbed. 

She looked up and saw that royal dwarf again. His face was uneasy and even angered. Odette would bet her last few coins it was about being saved by elves than her suddenly appearing.

“Your name?” He asked.

“Odette; at your service.” She bowed her head as they walked. They were out of hearing range of the group. “You’re Thorin Oakenshield, yes? My mother told me of you. Though she believed you died in the fires of Erebor.”

“Who is she?” Thorin frowned asking. He looked over this woman. She not a dwarf but she held herself as one. He saw her tattoo of course. It was beautiful and marked her as a dwarf. The bold lines and runes were enchanting. Not enough dwarven women had tattoos in his opinion. They always looked better on women than men. He had a few himself.

Odette held Gottra’s sword out to him in a quiet respect. She saw Thorin’s eyes widened as he took it. 

“I’m sorry to bring you this news while you’re on your journey but-”  
He hushed her, placing a hand on her shoulder. “It’s fine. We’ll tell him later when we’ve settled for camp. Please keep up with us until then.”

Odette nodded. They caught up with the rest of the dwarves. She frowned and just hesitated before stepping in Rivendell with Thorin and the others.

-

Entering Rivendell was as pleasing as it sounded. The stairs here were taller than they should be for dwarves so they had a little trouble stepping up to the entrance and entering. Odette stood next to Thorin simply because he was the closest. A few of the dwarves nodded to her, a small sign of acknowledgement. Gandalf spoke with an elf when more elves on horses surrounded them. There was an order to close ranks. 

Odette found herself on the outside, sword drawn and ready to attack if need be. She stood in-between Thorin and Nori. As an elf, Elrond, got off his horse and started speaking with Gandalf, they heard a neigh and whinny. Odette’s pony had followed the other horses back and pushed between two other horses to get to her. Odette lowered her sword and pet its snout. She quickly looked and was relieved to see the supplies still on the pony.

She saw Thorin throw her a look and examine the pony. She turned back to look at Elrond, holding onto the leather reins of the pony as it neighed at her and nipped at her hair.  
Elrond smiled watching.

“That is a loyal pony you have. Injured and he still comes back to you.” The elf said.

“Aye; it’s a loyalty not found often these days.” Odette said, trying to stare the elf down despite him towering over her.

Elrond seemed amused by her answer and nodded to her, a small sign of respect she supposed. Thorin stepped in-front of her and spoke.

-

They were given rooms but none of the dwarves took them. They settled in the courtyard instead, laying their things to the side in favor of the food that was being laid out on two tables. As the food was being set out, Odette introduced herself to the company. Dori and Nori recognized her and clapped her on the back as if she were family. It made her smile in a way she hadn’t since Gottra died.

The company took to her easily, especially Fili and Kili. The three were closer in age and chatted excitedly about an adventure the brothers recently experienced with mountain trolls. 

“You made them believe you all had parasites?” She said surprised. “I don’t believe I would have thought of that! That’s clever.” She chuckled.

“Not us, it was Bilbo.” Kili smiled and nodded to their hobbit. 

“Odette.” Thorin called from the side. He had walked off with Balin before she introduced herself. She walked over to them and bowed her head in respect before looking at Balin. Gottra’s sword was strapped to Balin’s hip.

“Odette; at your service.” She said in a softer voice than she had intended. 

Balin smiled at her. “No need to be shy lass. Balin; at your service.” He bowed in a friendly manner. “Gottra took a liking to you then.” He stated.

“Enough so to care for me and treat me as her own.” She answered back. 

Thorin patted Balin’s shoulder before going to the group to give them a moment alone.

-

Thorin knew Balin would accept Odette as his own, purely because Gottra had. He remembered the old couple and how distraught his old friend was when he believed she perished in the fires with their child. 

He remembered growing up with her close by, always ready to pull him and his siblings out of trouble. She thought them all dead. He wished to rewrite the past and happen upon her. He knew it would have saved his friend many nightmares.

He talked with Dwalin for a moment before Odette and Balin came over to the company. They all quieted and looked at Balin, sensing that something had happened.

“Gottra claimed Odette as her child and I too claim her as my child.” Balin said suddenly. There was a pause and then Balin was congratulated by the dwarves, as if he had just gotten a newborn rather than adopting a young adult. Odette was accepted without an issue from them.

Thorin had expected that much. He hadn't expected Dwalin to become so happy as to hug his new family and pick her up.

After so much hardship, Thorin would be relieved to have found some family amazingly alive to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos are appreciated. Any constructive criticism would be taken graciously.


End file.
